ft...  O 


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SERMON  * 


ON 


HOME  MISSIOISTS; 


Dflivfrfd  «t  Fort  Stroft  Chorrh,  on  the  Aniiivprsary  of  tho 


HAWAIIAN  EVANGELICAL  ASSOCIATION, 


SABBATH  EVENING,  JUNE  10,  1866. 


BY  BEV.  E.  BOXD. 


HONOLULU: 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  HAWAIIAN  EVANGELICAL  ASSOCIATION. 
1866. 


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SEKMON  ON  IKEALE  MISSIONS. 


Jou\  9 ; 4. — ••  1 must  work  the  works  ol  llim  that  sent  me  while  it  is  day." 


Jesus  came  from  Heaven  to  redeem  and  save  the  human  race.  That 
was  his  “ work.”  He  did  not,  however,  propose  to  accomplish  tlie 
divinely  assumed  task  by  His  own  personal  agency,  whilst  in  the  flesh. 
This  He  left  for  others. 

Having  chosen  and  instructed  a small  band  of  disciples,  and  having, 
in  them,  set  forth  the  germinant  idea  of  the  Christian  Church,  to  them, 
as  His  earthly  heirs.  He  committed  the  further  prosecution  of  the  work 
He  came  to  do  ; promising,  meantime,  to  be  with  them,  even  unto  the 
end  of  the  world,  and  then  He  returned,  by  the  way  of  the  Cross  and 
the  Sepulchre,  to  His  higher  mediatorial  work  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father.  From  that  time  to  this  the  task  which  the  Son  of  God  as- 
sumed as  His  own  peculiar  work  has  been  equally  the  work  of  His 
Militant  Church ; and  to-night  the  language  of  the  text  is  appropriate 
to  every  true  disciple  of  Jesus,  the  world  over. 

It  is  not,  as  you  see,  the  mere  expression  of  a simple  desire  or  pur- 
pose, but  the  cordial  acknowledgement  of  an  imperative  obligation. 

“ I must  work.” 

To  this  Society  therefore,  organized  for  effective  service  in  behalf  of 
the  truth  in  its  saving  application  to  the  population  of  these  islands  and 
aiming  at  the  largest  measure  of  such  service,  I present,  as  not  unsuit- 
able for  brief  consideration  this  evening,  these  two  topics,  furnished  by 
our  text,  viz : 

1.  The  wonrk  to  be  dom.  II.  How  to  do  it. 

1.  The  work  to  be  done. 

1 . Where  is  it  ? 

The  field  is  the  entire  group  of  these  fair  islands,  on  which,  either 
permanently  or  for  the  tune  being,  our  lot  has  been  cast.  From  Ha- 
waii to  Niihau,  wherever  lives  a Hawaiian  or  foreigner  of  any  name 
or  color,  w’ho  is  known  to  be  in  a state  of  spiritual  destitution,  for  the 
supply  of  which  no  other  means  exist,  there  is  found  ready  to  our  hand 
the  legitimate  work,  to  do  which  we,  as  a Society,  exist. 

2.  What  is  it  ? 

In  general  terms  it  is,  as  just  suggested,  the  evangelization  of  the 
spiritually  needy  portions  of  the  population  of  these  islands  and  the  supply 
of  their  religious  necessities,  by  means  of  divine  truth  preached  and  other- 
wise disseminated,  a service  which  the  lapse  of  time  is  more  and  more 
imperatively  demanding  at  our  hands,  and  of  the  immediate  and  press- 
ing necessity  of  which,  those  of  us  who  occupy  the  more  distant  por- 
tions of  the  land  are  feeling  with  an  ever-increasing  painfulness  of  con- 
viction. 


4 


From  all  points  the  current  sets  in  towards  this  central  metropolis, 
leaving  on  every  side  remnants  of  population  sparsely  scattered  over 
large  tracts  of  territory  ; and,  without  an  agency  similar  to  that  pro- 
vided for  by  this  Society,  as  there  already  is,  so  there  will  ineviiably 
continue  to  be,  a rapid  retrogradation  of  these  communities  towards  a 
barbarism  as  ruthless  as  that  whence,  by  the  grace  of  God,  the  nation 
has  once  been  rescued. 

There  is  no  possibility  of  a result  in  any  sense  more  cheering  than 
this,  if  we  fail,  either  through  a culpable  supineness  in  duty  or  through 
a narrow  selfishness  in  providing  the  requisite  pecuniary  and  other 
means  to  meet  the  exigences  of  the  present  time  and  of  the  immediate 
future  before  us.  But  this  is  our  appropriate  work,  and,  by  the  favor 
of  God,  we  would  hope  not  to  be  found  recreant  thereto.  Not  only  are 
we  called  upon  to  send,  or  aid  in  sending,  to  every  feeble  Hawaiian 
Church  a pastor,  and  to  every  destitute  community  those  who  will 
point  them  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  but  we  would  also  see  to  it  that  the 
foreign  communities  here  and  there  gathering  upon  the  islands — wher- 
ever desirous  of  the  preached  Word — are  supplied  therewith.  And  if 
possible,  also,  we  would  send  the  Word  of  Life  into  those  social  and 
spiritual  graveyards,  the  plantations  and  other  great  enterprises  scat- 
tered over  the  islands,  with  the  hope  that  its  saving  power  might  be 
once  more  felt  by  some  of  those  connected  therewith,  that  some  at  least 
might  again  listen  to  the  sweet  and  saving  words  of  Jesus,  which  their 
fathers,  when  sitting  in  the  thick  night  of  heathenism,  heard,  and  in 
simple  faith  receiving,  awoke  to  a new  and  higher  life  in  God.  Whilst 
the  small  and  rapidly-diminishing  remnant  of  those  Christian  heroes  in 
the  Hawaiian  Church  is  briefly  tarrying  beneath  the  droppings  of  the 
Sanctuary,  and  rejoicing  in  the  Word  of  Salvation,  preparatory  to  their 
final  flight  Heavenward,  we  would  fain  see  to  it  that  their  children  cry 
not  hereafter  to  be  rescued  from  the  worse  than  heathenism  which  is 
seriously  threatening  them. 

But  our  work  lies  not  solely  in  regions  remote.  In  the  name  of  God 
and  by  the  power  of  His  truth  we  should  do  something  to  save  this 
metropolis  from  the  condition,  if  not  from  the  fate,  of  Sodom.  It  is 
indeed  a task  not  to  be  lightly  spoken  of,  nor  yet  to  be  undertaken  with 
an  undue  confidence  in  human  wisdom.  Nevertheless,  it  is  one  with 
which  we  obviously  need  to  grapple,  if  we  would  hope  to  achieve  any 
enduring  success  in  the  other  department  of  our  labor ; for,  with  this 
great  central  crater  ever  pouring  its  death-dealing  streams  abroad  over 
the  land,  how  as  nothing  in  effect  will  be  the  sum  total  of  our  efforts 
therefor ! 

It  is  scarcely  an  indication  of  profound  wisdom  to  trim  the  twigs  of 
the  Upas,  whilst  leaving  the  huge  trunk,  with  its  giant  branches,  still  to 
overshadow  the  country. 

Also,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  in  this  brief  enumeration  of  the  work  to 
be  done,  that  we  have  a large  and  still  increasing  Asiatic  element  in 
our  midst,  of  whose  salvation  there  can  scarcely  be  a ray  of  hope,  unless 
it  come  through  the  agency  of  this  Society.  Foreign  in  every  sense  it 
is,  save  in  this  single  one  of  domestication  among  us.  Vicious,  too,  it 
is  in  character,  or,  at  best,  heathen,  and  withal  notoriously  inaccessible 


to  the  moral  and  religious  motives  of  the  Gospel,  as  well  as  to  the 
various  agencies  usually  employed  by  those  who  would  press  these  mo- 
tives upon  their  consideration.  Yet  still  the  stubborn  fact  remains,  that 
Christ  has  purchased  them  for  His  own,  precisely  as  He  has  purchased 
ourselves.  And  that  other  glorious  fact,  too — let  us  never  forget  it — 
Chinese  and  Hawaiian  both,  equally  with  those  more  highly  favored, 
were  among  those  irrevocably  given  to  the  Son  for  His  everlasting  in- 
heritance. 

And  can  we  do  nothing  for  these  perishing  strangers  ? Shall  we  sit 
down  contented  with  the  thought  that  they  have  come  to  a land  over- 
spread with  the  blessings  of  Christianity  merely  to  perish  in  their  pa- 
ganism ? Shall  the  light  in  which  we  are  dwelling  serve  but  to  light 
them  to  death  ? Or  is  there  some  one  or  more  yet  to  be  found,  whose 
hearts  a-glow  with  the  love  of  Jesus,  shall  with  our  aid  give  themselves 
to  the  blessed  work  of  telling  the  simple  story  of  the  Cross  to  these  be- 
nighted wanderers  from  their  distant  home  ? 

Such  is  the  brief  and  imperfect  summary  of  the  work  to  be  done.  It 
is  not  for  me  to  say  how  much  or  how  little  of  it  our  Sovereign  Lord 
shall  deign  to  honor  this  Society  with  accomplishing.  It  is  enough  to 
know  that  we  are  mainly  to  determine  that  point  for  ourselves,  and 
moreover,  the  issue,  we  are  sure,  is  to  be  wrought  out  only  by  prayerful, 
patient,  self-denying  toil.  Scarcely  an  earthly  crown  adorns  the  brow 
of  royalty  that  has  not  been  purchased  with  seas  of  blood  and  treasure 
untold.  And  why  should  we  expect  to  wear  the  trophies  of  a victory, 
save  as  they  too  are  won  through  our  own  unflinching  devotion  and 
self-sacrificing  zeal,  by  the  blood  of  God’s  dear  Son  ? VVe  are  not  to  be 
crowned  unless  we  first  strive.  Nor  is  our  Master  to  be  honored  through 
us  if  we  fail  to  meet  the  issues  now  presented.  The  time  has  forever 
gone  by  when  the  disciples  of  Jesus  could  fold  their  hands  and  wait 
their  Master’s  will.  They  have  now  to  do  it.  The  conflict  is  already 
upon  us,  and  it  never  can  be  won  save  by  a high  and  holy  resolve  in 
divine  strength  to  “fight  it  out  on  this  line.”  And  this  our  Lord  e.x- 
pects  of  us. 

II.  We  now  pass  to  inquire.  How  is  this  to  be  done  1 

We  effect  our  purposes  by  the  use  of  means  adequate  thereto,  and  so 
does  our  Omnipotent  God.  True,  the  means  which  He  uses,  and  which 
also  He  has  provided  and  taught  us  to  use,  are  not,  by  the  ordinary 
calculations  of  human  arithmetic,  adequate  to  the  results  proposed  and 
actually  accomplished.  But  then  He  has  told  us  beforehand  that  His 
calculations  are  ?wt  as  ours.  The  highest  wisdom  of  man  is  foolishness 
with  Him.  By  the  foolishness  of  preaching  we  know  He  has  actually 
determined  to  save  them  that  believe.  Just  as  in  the  Kingdom  of  Na- 
ture He  delights  to  show  us  what  stupendous  results  He  can  efifect  by 
the  most  insignificant  causes,  so  also  in  this  Spiritual  Kingdom.  It  is 
true,  and  we  should  never  forget  it,  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  among 
men  has,  in  its  inception,  always  been  insignificant  in  its  dimensions  and 
apparent  power.  It  is  the  still  small  voice,  the  stone  cut  out  of  the 
mountain  without  hands,  the  bit  of  leaven,  the  grain  of  mustard-seed. 
And  yet,  though  so  insignificant,  it  was  and  is  to  fill  the  whole  earth. 
\N  e are  inquiring  now  how  it  is  to  be  made  to  fill  these  islands,  or  ra- 


6 


ther  how  our  part  of  the  work  which  is  to  hasten  the  glorious  consum- 
mation is  to  be  done.  What  do  we  need  for  this  end? 

].  We  need  a suitable  organization,  through  whose  agency  our  work 
can  be  efficiently,  and  at  the  same  time  economically  prosecuted.  This, 
indeed,  we  already  have ; and  if  it  be  not  particularly  imposing  at 
present  in  the  magnificence  of  its  proportions,  we  find  comfort  in  the 
thought  that  it  is  capable  of  indefinite  enlargement  and  increase  of 
working  power,  limited,  in  these  particulars,  only  by  the  gifts  and  pur- 
poses of  its  patrons.  Besides,  we  cannot  forget  that  the  vast  organiza- 
tions for  Missionary  purposes,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  have  each 
and  all  passed  through  this  period  of  infancy,  and  have  attained  their 
present  vastness  and  efficiency  for  good,  only  through  the  large-hearted 
liberality  and  prayerful  zeal  of  those  who  make  them  the  channels  of 
their  beneficence  for  enlightening  and  saving  men. 

If  therefore,  with  the  machinery  already  to  our  hands,  and  in  actual 
operation,  those  who  are  in  sympathy  with  us  will  but  give  what  is  fur- 
ther needed  for  bringing  the  Society  up  to  itsrfull  working  capacity,  the 
problem  with  which  w'e  have  to  do  is  solved.  Our  work  is  as  good  as 
done. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  however,  for  a moment,  that  the  most  skill- 
fully adjusted  organization  gives  us  in  itself  any  new  forces.  It  has  no 
creative  energy  in  this  direction,  nor  should  we  rely  upon  it  as  though 
it  had.  Associated  action  simply  affords  us,  in  another  and  more  con- 
venient form,  the  forces  already  existing;  and  in  our  estimate  of  avail- 
able means,  for  present  or  future  use,  the  unit  of  calculation  must  ever 
be,  not  the  organization,  but  the  individual  therein.  And  the  aggregate 
of  the  individual  capacity  for  executive  labor,  or  pecuniary  giving,  or 
spiritual  power,  gives  you  the  sum  total  of  the  means  placed  at  your 
disposal — neither  more  nor  less — by  the  perfected  organization. 

That  mischievous  idea,  floating  illy-defined  in  the  midst  of  many, 
that  a Society  like  this  has  in  some  way  a sort  of  inherent  vitality  and 
power  of  indefinite  onward  working,  should  be  forever  discarded  by  all 
the  true  friends  of  God  and  humanity;  for  it  need  not  be  said  that  a 
false  conception  like  this  can  work  nothing  but  injury  to  the  individual, 
as  well  as  disaster  to  the  Society,  and  to  the  cause  for  the  furtherance  of 
which  it  exists.  A correct,  truthful  idea  of  such  an  Association  a.«  this, 
is  rather  that  by  its  entire  helplessness,  aside  from  our  individual 
agency,  it  becomes  a new  and  perpetual  incentive  to  a more  abounding 
zeal  and  more  fiiithful  labor,  rather,  in  behalf  of  our  fellow-men,  through 
its  good  offices. 

But  we  have  other  wants  not  provided  for,  for  the  success  of  our 
undertaking. 

2.  We  need  money. 

We  have  some,  but  the  amount  is  painfully  small.  We  need  more, 
that  is,  if  we  would  be  classed  among  live  progressive  agencies  of 
the  time— as  wide  awake,  both  to  the  claims  of  humanity  and  to  those 
of  God. 

Located  as  this  Society  is,  in  the  mid.st  of  a foreign  community  noted 
for  generous  giving,  and  to  a large  extent  certaiul}'  not  hostile  to  the 
objects  at  which  it  aims,  it  has  ever  seemed  to  me  that  it  has  not  yet 


felt  impelled  by  a true  mward  conviction  to  that  large-hearted,  practical 
recognition  of  its  indebtedness  to  this  wasting  people  which  duty  de- 
mands at  its  hands,  and  which  it  has  been  wont  to  recognize  in  other 
channels  of  well-doing. 

That  the  indebtedness  of  which  I speak  is  not  a mere  figment  of 
fancy,  but  e.xists  as  a sober  fact,  and  rests  with  an  imperative  responsi- 
bility upon  each  and  every  one  of  us  residing  in  these  islands  who  bears 
the  foreign  name,  I would  fain  believe  is  a truth  honestly  accepted  by 
each  of  those  now  before  me. 

Coming  hither  from  other  and  more  enlightened  lands,  we  come  in- 
evitably as  representatives  of  those  lands.  A higher  civilization  and  a 
more  advanced  Christianity  are,  willingly  or  unwillingly,  impersonated 
in  us,  worthily  or  unworthily,  as  the  case  may  be.  And,  whilst  claim- 
ing for  ourselves  a superiority  in  those  respects,  which  is  readily  con- 
ceded, we  surely  cannot  desire,  selfishly  and  stingily,  to  monopolize  the 
blessings  of  our  nobler  birthright ! The  goodly  lands  we  represent  are 
known  and  read  of  all  men,  not  only  as  opening  wide  their  arms  to  re- 
ceive the  oppressed  and  degraded  of  every  name,  but  also  as  generously 
employed  in  sending  abroad  to  every  race  the  free  offer  of  the  choicest 
privileges,  social  and  religious,  which  they  themselves  possess. 

And  shall  we,  who  have  come  to  dwell  among  this  kind-hearted 
people,  aim  to  do  than  that?  Whilst  we  freely  receive  of  theirs, 
shall  we  parsimoniously  hesitate  to  bestow  upon  them  in  return  our  bet- 
ter gifts  ? If,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  we  have  a richer  inheritance  than 
Hawaiians,  as  we  would  answer  for  it  in  the  final  day,  let  us  make  them 
so  far  as  we  may,  by  liberal  pecuniary  offerings,  as  well  as  by  individ- 
ual e.vample  and  by  positive  and  persistent  effort,  partakers  with  our- 
selves in  this  richer  inheritance.  By  the  love  of  our  common  Father, 
by  the  redemption  of  our  common  Lord,  we  are  bound  to  seek  the  peace 
and  prosperity  of  those  among  whom  we  dwell,  and  to  do  it,  moreover, 
in  no  stinted  measure,  but  literally,  generously,  as  God  has  dealt  with 
us  and  ours.  And  who  can  doubt  that,  even  on  lower  grounds  than 
these,  we  are  bound  thus  to  contribute  to  the  well-being  of  a people 
through  whose  aid  we  come  to  accumulate  stores  of  wealth  ? Even  as 
a matter  of  shrewd  business  policy  it  should  be  done.  “ Give  alms  of 
such  things  as  ye  have  and  behold  all  things  are  clean  unto  you,”  is 
one  of  those  simple  yet  far-reaching  utterances  of  Jesus  which  are  read 
by  many,  but  which  few,  in  its  intimate  practical  application,  trouble 
themselves  to  comprehend.  Its  meaning  is  nevertheless  plain.  If  one 
would  secure  the  favor  of  God  upon  his  business  enterprises,  let  him 
give,  in  due  proportion  to  his  gains,  to  the  needy  on  every  side  of  him. 
This  is  an  offering  acceptable  to  God.  And  wherever  it  is  liberally 
provided  for  in  the  adjustment  of  one’s  business  plans,  directed  by  or- 
dinary soundness  of  judgment,  by  the  general  consent  of  those  of  large 
experience,  pecuniary  disaster  is  rarely  known  to  fall.  And,  had  I the 
persuasive  eloquence  of  an  angel,  and  were  thus  able  to  induce  those 
who  hear  me  to  make  in  their  business  arrangements  a generous  provis- 
ion for  the  highest  welfare  of  this  people,  wdth  whom  our  lot  has  been 
cast,  through  this  and  kindred  organizations,  I am  sure  that,  as  the 
principles  of  God’s  providential  government  are  sound,  there  would 


8 


thereby  be  iatroduced  into  the  conduct  of  their  affairs  a large  and  posi* 
tive  element  of  permanent  success. 

But  I remark— 

3.  We  need  more  earnest  toorkers. 

These  are  essential  prerequisites  to  earnest  work.  I do  not  now  refer 
• to  those  specifically  set  apart  to  the  service  of  Society,  but  to  others  ; 
for  in  every  Christian  community  there  are  always  found  those  outside 
of  the  official  pale  who  are  the  most  persistent  and  effective  workers 
both  for  God  and  man.  Let  us  fix  it  in  our  minds,  as  a settled  truth, 
that  the  Hawaiian  people  is  not  to  be  saved  by  the  single  item  of  Mis- 
sionary effort,  distinctively  such.  If  this  is  to  be  accomplished,  the 
friends  of  Jesus  throughout  the  islands  must  come  up  to  the  line  of  their 
high  calling,  and  willingly,  yea  joyfully,  bear  the  responsibilities  laid 
upon  them  by  our  common  Lord.  For  their  own  profit  as  well  as  for 
His  honor,  and  for  the  well-being  of  the  entire  community,  this  respon- 
sibility has  been  laid  equally  upon  us  all.  Besides,  there  is  at  the 
present  time  a peculiarly  urgent  and  solemn  necessity  for  a most  pro- 
nounced coming  out  and  standing  up  for  Jesus.  How  else  are  our 
longings  to  behold  the  accumulated  honors  that  are  to  crown  our  adora- 
ble Lord  ever  to  be  satisfied  ? How  else  is  sin  to  be  drawn  out,  and  the 
multiplied  blessings  of  salvation  to  come,  in  an  ever-increasing  harvest, 
upon  this  perishing  population  ? How  else  are  we  ourselves  to  attain 
the  fullness  of  the  perfect  stature  of  men  in  Christ  Jesus  ? 

The  truth  is,  there  has  too  long  existed  in  the  minds  of  our  foreign 
commuriity — even  those  known  as  the  uncompromising  friends  of  mo- 
rality and  religion — a too  great  willingness  to  leave  to  Missionaries  the 
entire  management  and  responsibility  of  all  enterprises  undertaken  for 
the  spiritual  good  of  this  people.  Now  this  is  clearly  an  injustice 
both  to  God  and  man.  ^ 

There  are  the  weightiest  reasons  why  all  who  profess  to  be  the  friends 
of  virtue  and  religion  should  be  prepared,  in  times  like  the  present,  to  be 
known  as  such,  not  in  name  merely,  but  in  deed.  It  cannot  be  right 
that  the  world,  the  business  of  this  life,  should  totally  absorb  the  indi- 
vidual, leaving  not  even  a title  for  God  and  humanity.  No  man  can 
so  wrap  himself  up  in  the  triple  brass  of  selfishness  and  be  guiltless. 
His  Maker  has  claims  against  him  which  cannot  be  shaken  oft  ; and  so 
has  society.  Believe  me,  there  is  something  more  valuable  than  gold. 
Accumulated  wealth  is  not  the  supreme  good,  affirm  it  though  some 
may,  believe  it  though  more  do.  Piles  of  precious  metal  can  never 
represent  more  than  their  earthly  equivalent.  They  can  never  stretch 
away  beyond  and  certify  to  any  soul  its  title  to  Heaven.  We  need 
something  that  can  do  this,  and  that  something  is  the  favor  of  God,  se- 
cured by  a life  of  loving,  active  obedience,  through  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ.  And  it  is  the  very  service  that  I would  fain  urge,  in  the  name 
of  our  gracious  Lord,  and  in  the  name  of  those  for  whom  He  died,  upon 
the  attention  of  all  whom  voice  or  pen  can  reach  throughout  these 
islands.  Oh,  for  a clarified  spiritual  vision  ! for  eyes  touched  by  the 
finger  of  Jesus  and  freed  from  this  thick  film  of  worldliness  ! for  the 
gracious  spirit, 

“ Upon  the  eyeballs  of  the  blind 
To  pour  celestial  day ! ” 


9 


Atiotlior  want  wliicli  is  }>roatly  felt  in  our  work  is, 

4.  A viore  cordial  sympathy  xoith  the  people — a more  practical  lellow- 
fceling  with  ami  for  Ilawaiians. 

Even  with  tlic  professedly  religious  and  friendly  element  in  the  com- 
munity, there  is  altogether  too  much  working  at  arm’s  length.  The 
short  arm  of  the  lever  is  too  long  for  the  economical  expenditure  of  the 
forces  at  our  disposal.  We  have  need  to  get  nearer  the  object  to  be 
moved,  and  to  understand  better  its  diameter  and  conditions.  Other- 
wise we  must  not  leel  surprise  if  a retrihutive  Providence  sufTers  the 
Man  of  Home  to  seduce  from  the  old  paths  many  for  whose  salvation 
the  Protestant  Mission  was  established. 

No  amount  of  zeal  or  of  pecuniary  gifts  can  rejilace  a genuine  fellow- 
feeling  in  any  agency  for  drawing  men  to  God,  or  even  in  drawing 
them  from  a lower  to  a higher  and  purer  social  condition.  A genuine 
eflective  sympathy  with  this  people  is  what  we  pre-eminently  need.  I 
repeat  it.  Not  that  of  the  Priest  and  the  Levite,  which  can  look  upon 
them,  and,  with  an  aflected  sanctity,  pass  by  on  the  other  side  ; for  we 
have  had  enough  of  that ; but  that  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  which  can 
not  only  “look  ” upon  their  necessities,  but  which  can  go,  as  well,  and 
with  its  own  hands  pour  in  the  healing  balm,  and,  if  need  he,  even 
set  them  upon  its  own  beast,  and  take  them  to  the  fold  of  the  Good 
Shepherd  for  shelter  and  care. 

The  bare  recognition  of  the  necessities  of  a people,  or  the  periodical 
bestowment  of  a contribution,  or  even  personal  service  for  their  benefit 
without  the  genuine  sympathy  that  moves  and  opens  hearts,  is  of  little 
practical  avail.  What  we  need  is  the  capacity  for  becoming  all  things 
to  all  men,  and  so  show  the  world  that  we  practically  hold  to  the  true 
Apostolic  succession.  This  alone  is  the  spirit  of  Jesus.  This  self- 
denying,  pains-taking  purpose,  working  out  through  the  law  of  Christian 
love,  this  alone,  achieves  miracles  in  penetrating  the  hardest  hearts  and 
reforming  the  most  hopelessly  degraded  lives.  And  this,  too,  is  the 
very  thing  which  the  exigences  of  the  present  demand  at  our  hands. 
Shall  this  demand  be  met  ? 

We  may  at  least  thank  God  that  on  every  side  there  are  indications, 
not  only  that  these  demands  are  felt,  but  that  in  many  a bosom  there 
has  already  been  formed  the  high  and  holy  purpose  to  meet  them  in 
Jesus’  name.  And  to  this  resolve  we  must  come,  or  these  souls  about 
us  inevitably  perish,  aiid  we  go  sheafless  to  the  great  Harvest  Home  of 
the  world. 

Our  foreign  communities  are  supposed  to  know  little  about  the  social 
or  religious  interests  of  Hawaiians,  and  hence  to  care  little.  I speak 
generallJ^  And,  were  the  whole  truth  to  be  told,  probably  little  dispo- 
sition would  be  found  to  penetrate  deeper  into  the  conditions  of  society 
as  it  now  exists  around  us.  There  are  cogent  reasons,  I am  aware,  for 
such  a feeling.  Yet  to  yield  to  this  feeling  is  not  Christian,  nor  is  it 
humane.  Would  there  were  abroad  among  us  more  of  the  large-hearted 
sentiment  so  nobly  expressed  by  the  heathen  Homan  : “ Nothing  per- 

taining to  human  welfare  but  interests  me.”  A sentiment  noble,  in- 
deed, not  because  it  came  from  heathen  lips,  but  because,  even  coming 
from  such  lips,  its  genuine  philanthropy  is  so  broad  and  far-reaching. 


10 


Let  it  incite  us,  who  bear  the  Christian  name,  to  a more  thorough  prac- 
tical appreciation  of  the  nobler  and  more  authoritative  injunctions  of  our 
great  Leader : 

“ Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.” 

“ Do  good  to  all,  as  ye  have  opportunity.” 

“ Bear  ye  one  another’s  burdens.” 

“ As  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them.” 

Our  Hawaiian  neighbor  may  be  poor,  socially  degraded,  and  morally 
corrupt.  Nevertheless  he  is  a man^  and  for  him,  not  less  than  for  the 
honorable  and  highly  favored.  Heaven  stooped  to  earth,  and  Jesus,  its 
First  Born,  was  nailed  upon  the  Cross. 

Let  it  not,  I pray  you,  be  accepted  as  a foregone  conclusion  that  the 
less-favored  race  is,  by  some  stern  law  of  necessity,  to  be  ruthlessly 
swept  from  the  earth  by  the  advance  of  the  more  favored.  I know  it 
is  easy  to  generalise  from  the  accumulated  facts  of  the  past,  and  to  re- 
gard it  as  a fixed  rule  that  the  aborigines  must  give  way  before  the  ad- 
vancing tread  of  civilization ; meaning  thereby  that  they  may  be  pes- 
tered and  pushed  from  their  own  rightful  inheritance,  till  the  sod  has, 
without  a tear,  been  laid  over  the  last  remnant  of  the  race  ; and  all  this 
without  compunction,  because,  forsooth,  fate  has  decreed  it ! 

But  let  us  not  so  narcotise  our  consciences.  For  humanity’s  sake — 
yea,  for  the  sake  of  our  common  Father  and  our  reedeeming  Lord,  let  us 
not  be  too  ready  thus  to  generalise  that  dark  and  shameful  chapter  of 
facts  which  has  been  gathering  ever  since  Columbus  first  stepped  foot 
upon  American  soil,  and  which,  sad  to  say,  is  not  yet  concluded. 
Kightly  used,  those  records  would  indeed  tell  us  of  that  insatiate  greed 
of  gold,  which,  in  the  service  of  the  dominant  races,  has  pitilessly  tram- 
pled its  untold  myriads  to  a hopeless  death.  But  surely  no  fixed  law 
of  Providence,  or  of  a true  civilization,  is  here  indicated.  An  infinitely 
benevolent  Father  has  not  thus  unfealingly  left  his  helpless  ones  to  be 
cruelly  crushed  under  the  heel  of  a diabolical  selfishness. 

Whatever  causes  of  decrease  are  or  have  been  operative  among  this 
people,  are  easily  comprehended;  and  as  those  from  other  lands  gave 
birth  to  these  causes,  and  have  mainly  endowed  them  with  perpetuity, 
there  is  a special  fitness  in  the  demand  that  through  their  agency,  too, 
they  should  be  checked  or  eradicated.  It  is  easy  to  say  that  this  is  an 
impossible  undertaking,  lam  well  aware,  and  thus  excuse  one’s  self  from 
active  effort,  if  not  from  all  outworking  sympathy  for  the  people.  But 
faith  and  facts  arc  both  against  us.  The  monstrous  licentiousness  of 
the  Corinthians,'notorious  the  world  over,  cultivated  as  a shameless  art, 
yielded  to  the  preaching  of  the  Cross.  And  Komau  pollution,  too,  (an 
unfathomable  abyss,  the  extent  of  which  history  partially  discloses,  and 
which  the  revelations  of  Pompeii  arc  but  too  faithfully  giving  us  afresh,) 
sustained,  as  it  was,  by  the  entire  power  of  Paganism,  quailed  before 
the  early  approach  of  the  Gospel,  and  was  vanquished  in  the  contest 
which  ensued. 

It  was  the  pebble  and  the  sling  against  the  giant,  over  again  ; and  so 
it  has  ever  been,  is,  and  will  ever  be,  to  a steadfast  faith.  It  is  tliis 
faith  only,  grounded  upon  the  divine  promises,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
nuule  clfectual  through  a genuine  sympathy  with  this  people,  that  will 


11 


now  give  us  success  in  the  work,  which  in  tlic  name  and  strengtii  of 
God,  we  have  upon  our  hands.  We  need,  too,  just  now,  an  obstinate 
pertinacity  of  faith,  that  tcill  not  yield  the  day,  or  for  a moment  indulge 
the  thought  of  giving  over  the  remnant  ol  the  Hawaiian  nation  to  the 
power  of  hell.  If  the  welfare  is  stubborn  and  desperate,  so  it  is  every- 
where in  this  sin-cursed  world.  The  conditions  of  life  and  character 
are  evervwhere  the  same,  and  the  same  tried  and  trusty  weapon  with 
which  those  before  ns  have  wrought  e.vploits  for  the  truth,  even  the 
Gospel  of  God’s  crucified  Son,  we,  also,  still  wield,  or  may  wield  for 
the  salvation  of  the  Hawaiian  race  ; and  shame  on  us,  if  from  any  cause 
we  fail  to  achieve  victory  therewith!  • 

And  this  brings  me  to  mention,  as  another  of  our  wants — 

5.  A more  specific  and  positive  faith  in  God,  and  in  divine  truth  as 
the  single  instrument  of  human  salvation. 

Not  that  human  eloquence,  learning  and  skill  are  to  be  rejected,  pro- 
vided, always,  that  as  subordinates,  they  can  be  made  to  hold  up  every- 
where and  always  “the  only  name  under  Heaven  whereby  they  can  be 
saved.”  Still,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that,  as  a saving  agency,  the  wis- 
dom of  the  world  is  “ foolishness  ” with  God.  And  the  great  Apostle 
counts  it  all  as  dung,  that  he  may,  for  himself  and  for  others,  win 
Christ  pnd  be  found  in  Him.  He  gloried  in  but  one  single  thing.  That 
was  in  the  vicarious  sacrifice  of  the  Cross. 

Putting  all  else  beneath  his  feet,  he  concentrated  the  entire  forces  of 
his  being  to  this  one  resolute  purpose,  of  proclaiming  the  crucified  and 
risen  Jesus  as  the  one  only  sacrifice  for  all  the  spiritual  maladies  of  our 
race.  He  knew,  indeed,  that  “ to  the  Jews  it  was  a stumbling-block 
and  the  Greeks  foolishness.”  Yet  by  this  very  “ foolishness  of  preach- 
ing ” he  also  knew  it  pleased  God  to  save  them  that  believe.  Thus 
“knowing  in  whom  he  believed,”  and  assured  that  the  “foolishness  of 
God  was  wiser  than  men,”  we  see  how  it  was  that  he  determined,  even 
among  the  highly-cultivated  and  fastidious  Corinthians,  to  know  noth- 
ing save  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him  crucified.  He  could  not  dally  with 
outside  considerations,  but  opened  up  at  once  the  power  and  glory  of 
the  Gospel,  in  its  individual  application  to  the  hearts  of  men.  And 
now  it  is  just  this  resolute  faith  of  the  Apostle  in  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  as  the  sole  specific  for  all  human  necessities,  that  we  need  to- 
day, to  fire  anew  our  zeal  and  give  assurance  of  the  coming  victory. 

Let  it  be,  therefore,  our  glory,  as  it  was  His,  to  know  nothing  but 
Christ,  and  Him  crucified  for  the  salvation  of  men.  Tell  us  not  of  im- 
posing rites  or  a pompous  ceremonial,  neither  of  salvation  flowing  from 
consecrated  finger-ends,  nor  yet  of  priestly  offices,  which,  shutting  out 
the  broad  and  blessed  Sun  of  Kevelation,  would  stupidly  send  us  to 
God  by  candle-light.  Away  with  these  borrowed  baubles  of  heathenism! 
Give  us  a pure  Christianity,  and  in  beautiful  apostolic  simplicity  let  us 
point  this  people  to  the  Lamb  of  God  that  takelh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world. 

And  let  it  be  our  constant  joy  to  know  that  one  of  the  crowning  glo- 
ries of  the  Gospel  which  we  labor  to  bestow  upon  this  people  is  out  and 
out  individuality.  For  the  mere  accidents  of  human  character  it  has 
no  partiality.  It  knows  nothing  of  authoritative  monopolies  through 


12 


whose  officious  agency  alone  its  grace  may  be  vouchsafed  to  the  spirit- 
ually needy  ; nor  with  aggregations  of  men  has  it  anything  to  do.  To 
corporations  or  organizations  it  lias  not  one  word  to  say,  save,  indeed, 
as  they  may  be  the  proper  and  healthful  outgrowth  of  individual  men. 
To  the  man  it  speaks  directly — to  the  individual  man.  Abject  and  de- 
spised he  may  be,  morally  corrupt  and  undone  he  certainly  is ; never- 
theless, he  is  a child  of  God,  and  by  the  sign  manual  of  Hea'ven  he  has 
in  reversion  a celestial  birthright.  A Lazarus  in  rags,  repulsive  to 
sight,  he  may  be  now,  and  thankful  for  the  kindly  sympathy  and  com- 
panionship of  dogs,  but  to-morrow’s  sun  shall  find  him  entered  upon  his 
promised  inheritam;e,  a child  of  glory  reposing  in  Abraham’s  bosom. 
This,  I repeat,  is  one  of  the  crowning  glories  of  the  Gospel,  and  with 
what  fixedness  of  hope  and  faith  should  it  not  inspire  us  ! By  divine 
authority  we  offer  its  wealth  of  blessing  directly  to  the  living  soul,  and 
upon  that  soul  also  we  lay  its  solemn  and  weighty  responsibilities.  It 
is  what  he  needs,  for  it  is  his  Father’s  provision  for  its  extremest  neces- 
sities. With  his  political  relations  it  may  not,  perhaps,  directly,  med- 
dle, nor  with  his  social  standing.  It  is  enough  that  he  was  made  in 
the  image  of  his  Creator;  enough  that,  as  such,  he  is  a subject  of  God’s 
moral  government.  For  him,  as  such,  the  Cross  on  Calvary  was 
reared.  For  him  atoning  blood  was  shed.  To  him  conies  the  offer  of 
life  or  death,  and,  as  the  steward  of  this  manifold  grace  of  God,  naked 
and  alone  shall  he  come  at  length  to  the  final  Judgment  Seat. 

Divide  this  heirship  to  the  bounteous  gifts  and  res])onsibi!itios  of  the 
Gospel  you  cannot,  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  Each  individual  of 
the  race  is  personally  heir  to  the  whole.  Mo  Church  can  interdict  it, 
no  priest  circumscribe  it,  no  Bishop  lay  his  finger  upon  it.  Such  is  the 
Gospel  committed  to  us  : such  its  relations  and  dealings  with  man. 
Outside  of  it  there  are  no  motives  thajt  can  touch  the  conscience,  or  sav- 
ingly affect  the  life,  spiritual  or  material.  This  can;  and  we  should 
never  forget  it.  It  is  well  to  recur  often  to  what  it  has  done,  that  sight, 
as  well  as  faith,  may  be  assured,  and  stagger  not  at  the  promise  of  what 
it  is  surely  to  do.  Think  of  that  first  quarter  of  a century  after  Jesus 
hung  upon  the  Cross  ! Bun  your  eye  over  the  Epistles.  Homans, 
Corinthians,  Galatians,  Ephesians,  Pliilipians,  Colossians,  Thessalo- 
nians.  A marvelous  catalogue  ! They  indicate  to  us,  in  the  briefe!«t 
possible  terms,  not  a world  conquered  by  some  proud  earthly  monarch, 
but  by  the  simple  story  of  the  Cross;  and  that,  too,  against  the  com- 
bined powers  of  civil  and  religious  despotism,  of  earth  and  hell. 
Again,  turn  your  thoughts  to  the  conquests  of  the  truth  within  the 
present  century.  Time  would  fail  us  even  to  run  through  the  cata- 
logue of  territories  and  peoples  won  for  Christ,  both  from  I’opery  and 
from  Paganism,  on  continent  and  on  island.  And  it  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark, in  passing,  that  not  one  trophy  thus  won  for  Christ  has  again  re- 
verted to  the  foe.  Recall,  too,  in  this  connection,  what  the  Go.spel  has 
done  for  these  islands.  We  are  sometimes  inclined  to  underrate  the 
magnitude  of  the  work  actually  accomplished.  In  this  we  are  wrong. 
When  our  foes  exultingly  tell  us  that  a fox  running  upor.  the  wall 
which  the  Gospel  has  erected  among  the  Hawaiian  people  would  break 
it  down,  it  is  not  perhaps  surprising  that,  for  the  moment,  in  the  midst 


i;{ 


ol  g;rcat  discounigcmciits,  too,  we  arc  lialt’  inclined  to  believe  them. 
But  is  it  so  ? 

I’oint  to  whetever  valualile  institutions  or  conditions  of  life  yon  will, 
now  existing  among  ns,  civil,  social,  religions  or  political,  and  every 
jtarticniar  one  of  them  has  romething  more  than  a poor  dumb  month 
with  which  to  sjteal;  for  our  Immanuel  and  the  power  of  His  Cro.ss.  It 
is  both  well  and  wise  to  strengthen  onr  faith  in  this  survey.  We  have 
neotf  thus  to  be  prepared  for  what  the  immediate  future  is  yet  to  reveal 
to  us,  and  need  also  to  assure  ourselves  that  the  sword  of  tlie  Lord  and 
of  Gideon  is  yet  in  our  hands.  And  with  tliis  trusty  weapon,  in  the 
Name  of  Names,  the  Church  of  God  on  these  fair  Islands  shall  yet  cut 
her  way  to  victory  through  all  her  gathered  foes. 

But  1 hasten  to  tlie  last  of  ouf  wants  which  lime  will  allow  to  be 
named,  viz : 

(5.  A more  practical  C/iristiamty. 

In  other  words,  a Christianity  embodied  in  the  every-day  man,  and 
not  simply  in  the  sleek  and  pious  church-goer  on  the  Sabbaih. 

Our  religion  is  too  ethereal  and  delicate  to  bear  the  coaise  scrutiny 
•>  and  test  of  this  ordinary  business  life  of  ours.  We  need  something 

^ with  more  tangible  substance  to  it ; something  that  can  better  “ rough  it” 

in  the  world.  No  mere  theory  ol  Christianity,  apart  from  its  actual 
ada|)tedness  to  the  common  necessities  of  life,  is  for  us  worth  a mo- 
ment’s thought.  That  which  solely  attracts  our  interest  to-night  is — 
Religion  as  a reforming  and  saving  agency,  both,  in  its  actual  perform- 
ance and  in  its  known  capacity  for  effective  work  among  men.  It  mat- 
ters little  to  us,  even  though  its  indicated  capacity  as  a system  be  infi- 
nite, so  long  as  its  actual  workins:  is  partial  and  imperfect.  The  skill- 
ful engineer  is  never  satisfied  until  he  can  work  up  his  engine  to  its 
given  capacity ; and  if  he  gets  but  half  the  indicated  power  therefrom, 
he  is  sure  that  there  is  a defective  working  of  it.  And  so  we,  in  work- 
ing the  system  of  means  which  God  has  given  for  reforming  and  saving 
men,  whilst  painfully  conscious  of  the  imperfect  resul's  actually  at- 
tained, are  sure  that  our  working  of  the  system  is  defective. 

Now,  it  is  manifestly  absurd  in  us  to  expect  to  accomplish  the  vast 
work  which  we  have  in  hand,  with  forces  so  painfully  inadequate  as  we 
find  them.  The  children  of  this  world  exhibit  no  such  stupidity  ; why 
should  the  children  of  light?  Is  it  written  in  the  book  of  God's  de- 
crees that  the  former  shall  be  wiser  in  their  generation  than  the  latter  ? 
Or  is  this  the  mere  statement  of  a humiliating  fact,  whose  existence  is 
conditioned  upon  no  fixed  necessity,  but  simply  upon  a defective  spirit- 
ual economy,  persistently  believed  in  and  pushed  laboriously  on  to  its 
meagre  results  1 Can  we  doubt  which  ? And  we  know,  too,  where  the 
great  defect  lies. 

Give  us,  therefore,  not  a new  religion — we  are  right  there — but  a 
new  system  of  spiritual  economy,  vitalized  by  the  fresh  element  of  power 
to  be  found  in  the  honest  application  of  Christianity  to  the  ordinary  busi- 
ness of  life. 

We  are  told  that  the  results  of  forty-five  years  of  Christian  toil 
among  this  people  are  not  commensurate  with  their  cost  in  treasure  and 
human  energies ; and,  vast  as  these  results  are,  I am  far  from  disputing 


14 


liie  allegation.  Considering  (lie  large  numbers,  in  ever}'  department  of 
life,  who  have  borne  the  Christian  name,  and  still  bear  it,  in  these 
islands,  the  results  are  indeed  unsatisfactory,  and  it  is  by  no  means  diffi- 
cult to  tell  why.  Our  religion,  instead  of  occupying  its  rightful  posi- 
tion as  the  controlling  power  in  the  conduct  of  life,  has  been  made  far 
too  generally  to  dance  attendance  upon  our  worldly  interests  ; and  so 
accustomed  have  we  become  to  this  method  of  Christian  life,  that  not 
only  the  world — the  outside  sinners — but  many  even  of  the  baptised 
children  of  the  Kingdom  have  come  to  accept  it  as  an  established  truth 
that  worldly  business  cannot  be  successfully  conducted  if  under  the 
control  of  religion  ! 

And  this  is  precisely  the  debasing  idea  that  is  now  being  diffused 
throughout  the  native  community,  viz.,  that  there  can  be  no  joint  agency 
of  the  Divine  with  the  earthly  principle  in  conducting  the  every-day 
affairs  of  life!  as  though  religion  were  a Utopian  scheme,  and  the  Bible 
a book  of  impracticable  precepts  ! And  so,  when  one  takes  to  business 
of  any  sort,  he  feels  that  he  follows  high  precedents  in  eschewing  the 
Divine  law  as  his  guiding  light,  and  following  what  he  supposes  to  be 
his  own  wiser  and  better  judgment.  “ Not  slothful  in  business,  fervent 
in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord,”  is  to  him,  as  to  others,  an  unmeaning  in- 
congruity. 

Now,  can  any  people  ever  be  Christianized  on  grounds  so  low  and 
unworthy  as  these  '{  1 do  not  ask  if  they  can  be  brought  into  the 

Chu'ch  thereby,  for  they  may  be,  as  others  have  been,  both  in  this  and 
other  lands.  But  we  do  not  hold  to  baptismal  regeneration.  Heathen- 
ism baptised  is  heathenism  still,  and  baptised  worldliness  is  worldline.ss 
still,  call  it  by  what  name  you  please. 

But  this  people  have  long  since  been  able  to  comprehend  the  discrep- 
ancy that  e.xists  everywhere  among  them,  between  the  religion  of  the 
Bible,  as  read  and  as  preached  to  them,  and  that  which  is  thus  prac- 
tised. With  their  religious  teachers,  they  approve  the  former  and  ac- 
knowledge, as  readily  as  we  do,  its  divine  excellence,  whilst,  as  human 
nature  is,  they  naturally  and  almost  inevitably  content  themselves  with 
practising  the  latter,  and  think  they  do  as  well  as  their  employers  and 
acknowledged  superiors.  And  is  this  to  be  disputed  ? 

We  cannot  now  stop  to  speak  of  the  domestic  and  more  private  rela- 
tions which  we  hold  to  Hawaiians;  but  look  abroad  over  the  Islands  if 
you  will,  and  in  all  fairness  say,  if,  in  the  mariagement  of  our  great 
plantations,  for  example,  and  other  important  enterprises  which  absorb 
and  control  all  the  native  labor  available,  there  is  practical  Christianity 
enough — I will  not  say  humanity  enough — to  make  the  faintest  appre- 
ciable show.  I mean,  of  course,  as  seen  by  Hawaiian  and  other  em- 
ployes. 

Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves.  Hawaiians  are  not  slow  in  estimating 
the  sort  of  Christianity  that  simply  treats  them  as  beasts  of  burden, 
w'ithout  the  slightest  actual  provision  for  their  wants  as  immortal  be- 
ings. A Christianity  that  works  them  incessantly  for  six  days  of  the 
week — not  to  say  more,  even,  than  that — and  then  torus  them  adrift  on 
the  Sabbath,  without  even  the  care  bestowed  upon  the  cattle,  and  so 
drawing  them  down  by  an  inevitable  process  of  demoralizing  (and  by 


15 


* 


no  lics^nting  process  either)  towards  barbarism  and  death.  Tliis  cari- 
catured Christianity  is  not,  nor  was  it  ever  designed  to  be,  in  any 
land,  the  power  of  God,  nor  tlie  wisdom  of  God,  for  tlie  salvation  of 
men. 

Now,  we  need  a religion  better  than  this,  if  our  work  is  ever  to  be 
done  ; a religion  from  which  are  eliminated  all  these  unnatural  excres- 
ences,  and  in  which  these  fatal  defects  are  remedied.  In  short,  we 
need  the  sort  of  Christianity  that  God  gives  us  in  His  Word,  heavenly 
in  its  aspect  as  well  as  in  its  origin,  human  as  well  as  divine  in  its 
practical  teachings,  regarding  man  ever  in  his  two-fold  nature  and  rela- 
ations,  and  striving  to  bless  him  in  both.  Give  us  this  sort  of  (iliris- 
tianity,  ?wt  as  n beautiful  ideal,  but  us  a tangible  substance,  touching  and 
blessing  this  actual  Hawaiian  life  at  every  conceivable  point,  and  our 
work — God’s  wotk — on  these  islands  shall  be  speedily  accomplished, 
and  the  top  stone  shall  be  brought  forth  with  shoutings  of  grace,  grace 
unto  it ! 

But,  at  this  stage  of  human  progress,  of  what  conceivable  avail  is  the 
religion  that,  either  doubtful  or  ashamed,  sneaks  away  from  the  marts 
of  trade — from  the  ship’s  deck,  the  dock,  the  counting-room,  the  planta- 
tion— whilst  m the  prayer-meeting  and  on  the  Sabbath,  when  secular 
business  is  safely  in  abeyance,  it  can  zealously  exhort  to  faithfulness  to 
Him  who  reedeemed  them  with  His  blood,  and  who  said,  too,  He  that  is 
ashamed  of  me,  I will  be  ashamed  of  him  ? 

Out  upon  the  Christianity  that,  in  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  in  the  light  of  the  last  hfty  years,  can  read  the  second 
Psalm,  and  still  hesitate  and  apologise  in  putting  its  foot  significantly 
forward  for  Christ.  Fools  and  fanatics  there  may  be  danger  of  our  be- 
coming, as  the  world  goes,  but  is  it  not  better  to  be  fools  and  do  some- 
thing for  our  blessed  Lo#l  and  for  our  race,  than  weak-backed  and 
fearful  worldly-wise  ones,  whose  noblest  aim  is  to  sit  astride  the  fence 
which  divides  His  Kingdom  from  the  world,  and  vainly  strive  to  serve 
them  both  ? 

It  is  a bootless  task  to  aim  at  the  regeneration  of  any  people  by  such 
an  agency  as  this.  As  a working  power,  without  a fresh  baptism  from 
on  high,  it  is  well-nigh  played  out ; and  hence  it  is  that  our  work 
hangs  so  heavily  on  our  hands^  What  adequate  triumphs  has  the 
Cross  won  through  our  agency  within  the  last  half-score  of  years? 
What  new  trophies  have  these  years  given  us,  which  to-night  we  may 
lay  at  Jesus’  feet  ? . Nay,  Satan  is  not  thus  easily  to  be  bruised  under 
our  lea^.  In  this  conflict  Christ  indeed  is  to  win,  but  He  is  to  win 
through  the  unstinted  devotion  of  the  Church  He  has  purchased  Avith 
l#His  own  blood.  * 

Again,  I repeat,  a new  religious  life  is  what  we  perishingly  need ; 
that,  conscious„®f  the  abiding  presence  of  Jesus,  shall  always  and  every- 
where stand  up  for  Him.  And,  whilst  art  and  science  gird  themselves, 
as  noAA’,  for  the  cqnquest  of  the  material  world,  is  Religion,  which  alone 
gives  beauty  and  significance  to  both,  with  careless  mien  and  folded 
arms  to  sit  idly  by  ? Has  she,  too,  no  conquest  to  win  for  Him  whose 
name  she  bears ? No  trophies  for  Christ!  And  this,  too,  in  the  year 
when  expectation  stands  on  tiptoe,  and  faith  beholds  the  millenial  dawn 


Hi 


already  streaking  tlio  hill-tops  with  coming  glory  ! It  cannohisiirely, 
he  ! It  inust  not  be  ! The  Master  says  it.  Our  faith  and  love  both 
forbid  it.  We  must  work  the  work  of  Him  that  sent  us  whilst  it  is 
day  ! 

And  how  solemn  as  eternity  are  the  motives  which  urge  us  onward 
to  our  work,  to  a quickened  zeal  and  a stronger  "faith — to  a new  and 
higher  religious  life  in  and  for  our  adorable  Lord  ! 

The  time  is  short.  Soon  our  work  will  have  come  to  an  end,  and 
the  grave  will  have  closed  over  us  forever.  Forever,  did  1 say?  No. 
Christ  is  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life.  In  Him  toiling  and  not  faint, 
in  H*m  trusting  and  not  ashamed— yet  a little  while,  and  He  will  come 
and  take  us  to  our  waiting  thrones  on  high  ; and — cheering,  glorious 
thought — not  us  onhj.  Multitudes  of  these  despised  ones  for  whom  He 
died  and  we  toil,  shall  through  atoning  grace,  there  i^ign  with  us  too  ; 
and  together  we  shall  sing,  in  sweetest  harmony,  the  Song  of  Moses 
and  the  Lamb. 


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